A 50-year-old Cortez man, previously convicted of felony possession of drugs, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for turning his home into a weapons armory of 59 firearms that included stolen semiautomatics.

Brian Ray Karsten, who was sentenced on drug charges in Utah in 2005, had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

After serving the seven years, Karsten will then serve an additional three years on supervised release under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock.

On April 5, 2006, the Colorado State Patrol and the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Karsten’s home near Cortez and found an arsenal of weapons.

They located 59 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Among the firearms were the stolen semiautomatics capable of holding large capacity magazines and nine black powder rifles and pistols.

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